An investigation into why an independent school ran out of money and was forced to close six weeks before GCSE and A-level exams will be launched by the administrator.

Newlands School in Seaford closed on April 4 because of mounting debts it could not pay off.

Although the school has re-opened thanks to massive financial investment by two parents, the charitable trust which ran the school, Newlands Educational Trust, remains in the hands of administrator Kroll.

A spokeswoman for Kroll confirmed the company will carry out its own investigation into why the school ran out of money.

She said: "It's an assessment of what happened in the past. It's a standard process and something that happens in every case taken on by Kroll."

Headteacher Oliver Price told staff yesterday they should direct any concerns or comments about what led to the closure to Kroll.

He told the staff, who have not been paid since February, that if the trust went into liquidation they could only expect to receive one or two pence of every pound they were owed.

He urged them to accept a Creditors Voluntary Agreement, which would effectively be paid for by the two parents responsible for the school's rescue package, Mike Holland and John Summers. The agreement would cost Mr Holland and Mr Summers at least £700,000 but would ensure staff got about 60 per cent of what they were owed.

No staff have been officially re-appointed yet although a basic senior management team is in place.

Mr Price said: "I will use as many of you as I possibly can but I cannot guarantee you anything at the moment. We need to know how many children we will have."

Next week, 81 of the school's original 450 pupils will be in class and Mr Price hopes more will return in September.

Mr Price said the school would move back to its main site in Eastbourne Road in September and told staff relations with landlords the Chittenden family would remain the same.

The family signed an agreement with developer Allum Estates three years ago to "vacate" the land and "extinguish" all third parties to pave the way for development.

Mr Price said: "While the Chittenden's own the land they are landlord and while we pay the rent we are the tenant and there's nowt they can do about it."

He said the school's lease would run for about another 55 years and now it had financial backing from Mr Holland and Mr Summers the school was in a stronger position than ever before.